


Rain, Rain, Go Away...

by tacewrites



Category: Fruits Basket, Fruits Basket (Anime 2019), Fruits Basket - Takaya Natsuki (Manga)
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, me. i do., shigure being shigure, who loves casual displays of intimacy?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-09
Updated: 2020-10-09
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:08:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26921137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tacewrites/pseuds/tacewrites
Summary: Slowly, she found herself reaching out, tempted by the unknown. With only a brief moment of hesitation, her hand made contact, and she brushed her fingers through it, starting from the top and moving down. The motion answered the question, which to her delight, was yes. It was soft. Like feathers.Kyo didn’t move, but he did ask, in a wary sort of way, “What are you doing?”“Stroking your hair, I guess” she answered as she did it again.A pause, then, “Why?”~Kyo doesn't do so well with rain. Tohru finds a small way to help.
Relationships: Honda Tohru/Sohma Kyou
Comments: 8
Kudos: 96





	Rain, Rain, Go Away...

**Author's Note:**

> I just watched all of Fruits Basket and now I Feel Things. I just think these two deserve moments of casual intimacy when they can get it so here we are. Takes place sometime after the true form arc.

Rain had never troubled Tohru all that much. Sure, there were times when it meant cancelling plans or having to race home in sopping wet clothes, but for the most part, it really wasn’t such a bother. She actually found it kind of pleasant, listening to the pitter patter sound of raindrops hitting the roof; it was a steady, unobtrusive noise, one that made her feel peaceful.

As she finished folding a towel and placed it on top of the stack next to the laundry basket beside her, she paused her task to lean sideways in her spot on the floor of the porch and glance past Shigure’s lawn, hoping to catch a glimpse of Yuki coming through the trees. There was no sign of him, but he hadn’t been gone that long so it wasn’t a cause for concern. Plus, he’d left with an umbrella, so the weather wouldn’t be too much of an issue for him. She hoped Shigure had taken one with him as well, wherever he was. 

Distracted now, her gaze slid away to stare absentmindedly out at the yard as the rain steadily fell. From where she sat just inside the open door, she was warm and dry, and quite content to watch the outside world soak it all in, as it had been doing pretty much all week. But maybe not for much longer, she realized, as off in the distance she could see the sun peaking through the clouds, finally deciding to chase the rain away.

Maybe that was for the best, she thought, as the sound of a creaking floorboard overhead caught her attention. With a small shake of her head, she grabbed the last towel from the basket and folded it over once, then twice, as the creak of another floorboard mixed with the sound of slow, labored footsteps making their way down the upstairs hallway. Sudden anxiousness caused her to twist around in her spot and the corners of her mouth to turn down into a frown as the footsteps travelled down the stairs and then puttered through the hall. Then Kyo appeared. He came to a stop in the living room, and it took her no time at all to see that he was looking just as worn down as the last time she’d seen him. That was at breakfast. It was almost dinner time now. 

Kyo looked...uncomfortable. Actually, that didn’t seem like a strong enough word to describe him, but the way that he stood in the middle of the room looking like gravity was actively trying to pull him down and it was winning made her think it was fitting enough. He wasn’t the epitome of perfect posture on his best days, but the slump in his stance now wasn’t normal. Not even the soft black sweatpants and baggy gray shirt he wore seemed to bring him any comfort, and that was his favorite outfit to wear on lazy days.

He rubbed his eyes with a groan, but when he opened them and his gaze landed on her, a small smile appeared on his face.

“Tohru,” he said in greeting, voice hoarse from disuse. 

“Hey, Kyo,” she answered with concern that she was unable to hide. “Are you okay?”

“I mean, I’m not great.”

The rain had never troubled Tohru all that much. But it was definitely troubling her now.

“Can I do anything?”

“Like what?” he asked with a huff as he rubbed at his temple. 

“I don’t know, I was just asking, I’m sorry I--”

“Don’t be sorry, dummy,” he cut her off, the words a little less harsh as he made his way to where she sat. “You don’t control the weather.”

She watched his approach and craned her neck to look up at him when he stopped a few feet to her right, hands stuffed into his pockets as he bent slightly forward, making it seem like he was curling into himself. Maybe he was trying to. 

“I wish I did,” she replied quietly without thinking. 

A surprising admission; she hadn’t always felt that way. Then again, she hadn’t always known Kyo, or any of the other Sohmas for that matter, and there were lots of feelings she had about all of them that were new and just as surprising. Regardless, the sentiment was true; she could feel it in the way that her heart ached at being able to do nothing for him.

Kyo looked down at her, a flicker of something vaguely soft-like in his expression that was quickly replaced by something sharper as he glanced away. “That’s a weird thing to wish for,” he mumbled sourly.

“Maybe,” she said.

He sighed, sounding thoroughly put upon, as was his habit when shown any amount of concern. “Don’t worry about it, Tohru. Rain’s never killed me before.”

And with that, he plopped down with a heavy groan, sitting upright for just a moment before toppling over sideways onto the hardwood floor. Gravity seemed to have won the fight. There was a slight curve to his body that prevented him from stretching all the way out, but still his legs stretched to nearly the other side of the sliding doorframe while the top of his head faced her. The action seemed to remind her of something, but she couldn’t decide what until she stared for a moment, eyes roving from his orange hair all the way down, and then it clicked. 

It was a very cat-like thing to do.

Which made sense; he was possessed by the cat spirit after all, so maybe this habit of his came from that part of him. The thought was cute for a second, but was quickly overshadowed by the knowledge that Kyo’s place in the zodiac brought him suffering that even she was completely unaware of. Rainy days were just one of the hardships he faced, and that thought made her feel guilty for the first. 

She banished that feeling, as it did nothing for either of them in the moment, and continued to stare down at the boy lying beside her. His head, which was propped off the floor by his hands underneath, had nearly landed against her leg. It didn’t seem to be on purpose, more like he’d miscalculated the distance between them and didn’t notice. If he had, she was sure he would have moved, as he was always careful to keep a distance, for propriety’s sake and so as not to chance triggering a transformation. 

But she was kind of glad he didn’t notice. There was very rarely a chance to be so close to him, and that was...hard. Tohru felt a lot of affection for Kyo, for all the Sohmas she’d gotten to know, and her expressions of affection generally tended to be physical. She always hugged and cuddled the people she cared for. Uo-chan, Hana-chan, little Kisa Sohma. Her mom. She didn’t know if that was something either Kyo or Yuki cared for, but the fact that it wasn’t an option at all left her wanting. She used her words instead with them, and that worked just as well, but it didn’t feel the same. 

Especially now, when Kyo was clearly struggling, and all she wanted was to give him...something. 

The silence between them stretched on, interrupted only by the sound of the falling rain, and she pulled her legs in to sit cross legged, her skirt long enough to manage the position, as she continued to watch him. After a moment, she found herself distracted by his hair. It was such a bright color. It was just as fiery as his personality though, so it suited him. And it was almost touching her leg, it was so close. Almost. Absentmindedly, she wondered if it was as soft as it looked. 

Slowly, she found herself reaching out, tempted by the unknown. With only a brief moment of hesitation, her hand made contact, and she brushed her fingers through it, starting from the top and moving down. The motion answered the question, which to her delight, was yes. It was soft. Like feathers.

Kyo didn’t move, but he did ask, in a wary sort of way, “What are you doing?”

“Stroking your hair, I guess” she answered as she did it again. 

A pause, then, “Why?”

“When I was little, my mom always did it to me whenever I wasn’t feeling good or had a bad day. It felt nice. I just...thought it might help. But I’m sorry, I can stop if you want.”

Kyo shifted just a little, bumping her leg, and she wasn’t sure if it was an accident or not. “Didn’t say that.”

Tohru smiled; that seemed like invitation enough. The angle was weird though now that he’d moved. Feeling uncharacteristically bold, she gently bumped him with her knee. He turned his head to look up at her questioningly. When she did it again, Kyo seemed to get the hint and, characteristically indulgent, scooched so that the back of his head rested against the top of her leg. 

That was much better. She immediately went back to stroking her fingers through his hair, starting from his forehead and back as gently as possible, and sighed contentedly. There was relief in the action, as if she had needed this more than he did. Which might have been true, but she hoped that he wasn’t just humoring her and was actually getting something out of it. Or was it just making things worse for him? Would he tell her if that was the case?

The sudden sound of his stomach grumbling distracted her before she could ask, and she giggled.

“Hungry?”

“Yeah,” he murmured. “That’s actually why I got up.”

Of course he was; he never came down to eat lunch. He must have been starving.

“I’m working on dinner,” she told him. “Yuki’s out grabbing me some vegetables from his garden.”’

“Good. Damn rat’s gotta make himself useful somehow.”

It wasn’t often that Kyo let the subject of Yuki drop before he could express his distaste for the other boy, nor was he one to shy away from making threats against Yuki’s wellbeing. This week in particular those threats came with far more frequency, much to her dismay, as Yuki was always willing to give just as good as he got. As much as it saddened her to see that two people she cared for so strongly seemed to have no hope of ever getting along themselves, she’d accepted that that was just the way things had to be. 

Still, though the sentiment behind the words was familiar, she heard very little malice in them now. They lacked the usual bite, almost as if he wasn’t ruffled at all by the mention of their housemate. But surely that was too good to be true. Maybe there was some other explanation?

Whatever it was didn’t really matter, she was just relieved that he wasn’t going to expend energy getting worked up about Yuki. 

They both fell silent again, and Tohru watched as orange locks slipped through her fingers over and over again, absorbed in the repetitive motion and wondering at the softness. Honestly, it was  _ really  _ soft. How did he get it like that? Was he using some fancy conditioner? That didn’t seem likely, but it was at least a possibility...

Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a low sound from Kyo, and she stopped mid-stroke as she felt him stiffin, worried she’d been too rough while not paying attention. He cleared his throat and coughed once before lifting his chin to look up at her, cheeks tinged pink.

“Uh…”

“Are you ok?” she said, eyes wide with concern. “Did I hurt you?”

He opened his mouth to speak and then closed it again, staring up at her. “No,” he finally replied slowly, “you didn’t hurt me.”

“Are you sure? It seemed like I did, and I heard--”

“That was nothing!” Kyo interrupted quickly as he rolled to the side and flipped over, pushing himself up into a sitting position to face her. “Don’t worry about it.”

Well, that was strange. She searched his face for any sign that he wasn’t telling the truth, but other than the pink in his cheeks, she didn’t see anything. Her gaze then fixed a bit higher, and she giggled.

“What’s so funny?” he demanded.

“Your hair,” she explained. “It’s sticking up everywhere!”

Tufts of orange stuck out every which way. The sight reminded her of electrified cartoon characters she used to watch on TV, and she giggled again. Kyo folded his arms in a huff and blushed harder.

“Well, who’s fault is that?”

Not wanting to irritate him too much, she disguised the next laugh as a cough behind her hand. She couldn’t hide the grin on her face though, so as a gesture of peace, she reached up to smooth down his hair for him. He caught her hand halfway there, holding it in place with his own. 

“Maybe we’ll just keep our hands to our own hair from now on,” he suggested. 

It was the rational thing to do, but she couldn’t help but feel a little sad about it for some reason. “That makes sense, I think,” she cheerfully replied anyway.

He returned her smile then, and Tohru felt a familiar fondness well up in her chest. The soft expression from earlier returned, and she found herself strangely unable to hold his gaze. Instead she looked down to where his hand still lightly grasped her wrist. The warmth of his skin on hers was distracting, though it seemed like he was barely touching her. The beads from his bracelet that locked away his other form pressed into her skin too, but she barely noticed it. Its presence did remind her of dreary rain though, and it was only then that she realized that, in the silence between them, she heard a distinct lack of a certain other sound that she hadn’t noticed before. 

“Kyo,” she said, much quieter than she meant to be as her gaze flitted back to his own.

“Yeah?” he answered, his voice just as soft.

“It stopped raining.”

Both of them turned to look outside. The sun shone brightly now, and everything glistened in the light. Shadows stretched across the lawn. The world looked more...alive.

Tohru turned back to Kyo. Somehow, he looked more alive already, too. She felt as if a weight had been lifted off her chest, herself. 

“Are you feeling better now?” she asked excitedly, leaning forward. 

He gave her a wry smile. “It’s not automatic, you know.”

“Oh,” she replied, a little deflated, as she looked him over appraisingly. “Really? I think you look better.”

“Well,” he said, gaze flitting down to their still joined hands between them and back, “I don’t really think it’s because of the weather.”

She wanted to press him for an alternate theory, as he seemed to have one, but the sound of a deep chuckle startled them both. Tohru jumped in her seat and felt Kyo’s hand leave her wrist as he launched himself backward with a yelp. They found Shigure standing in the yard, looking quite entertained, next to a frowning Yuki who, encumbered by a closed umbrella in one hand and a basket of carrots and potatoes in the other, clearly found no entertainment value in the situation at all. 

“My, my, what do we have here?” Shigure asked with amusement.

He didn’t seem to actually require an answer, but Tohru felt the need to speak up anyway, if only for Kyo’s benefit, who sat sputtering unintelligibly. “Kyo wasn’t feeling well, so I found a way to help him,” she replied.

“How sweet of you,” Shigure crooned at her. “And it  _ does  _ look like you helped,” he added, a sly smile spreading across his face as his eyes slid to Kyo and pointedly fixed on his hair. “You know, I’ve said before that having three teenagers in the house is a recipe for disaster, and I’ve always assumed that I would eventually stumble upon someone looking so compromisingly disheveled, but I didn’t think it would be Kyo.” 

“Huh?” Tohru asked at the same time as Kyo, finally finding his voice, yelled “What’s that, pervert?!”

“And really,” Shigure continued, hand coming to his chin as if in thought, “Yuki was my second bet, so this is truly a surprise.”

Yuki’s face darkened at that. “You can leave me out of those kinds of thoughts, you creep. And as for you,” he added cooly, expression full of violent promises as he stared up at Kyo, “if you’re bothering Miss Honda, I will make you wish your biggest problem was a little rain.”

Kyo leapt up to a fighting stance, face all red. “You wanna go? I’ll end you!”

“Please don’t fight,” Tohru interrupted, waving her arms frantically. “everything’s fine! It really was nothing, Yuki, and whatever was happening was all me anyway.”

The soft spoken boy turned his attention to her. He considered her words for only a brief moment before breaking out into a smile that reminded her of a flower blooming as he visibly relaxed. “If you say so, Miss Honda,” he replied, clearly not questioning any of the conflicting things she’d said. 

Kyo didn’t drop his fighting stance, but neither of the other two men paid him any mind as they stepped onto the porch. Shigure sighed, disappointed his fun was over as he went to the living room and sat down in front of the TV while Yuki brought her the basket. Tohru looked inside it to see that his produce was just as ripe and delicious looking as always. She felt a swell of affection for her friend and his efforts, but kept her hands to herself. 

“You’re the best, Yuki,” she said instead, willing him to feel the affection in her words. 

She couldn’t tell if he did or not. He just smiled again and walked off towards the kitchen.

“You really not gonna fight me, rat?” Kyo taunted after him. 

Yuki barely spared him a glance over his shoulder. “Maybe after dinner, stupid cat.”

“Ugh, whatever,” Kyo grumbled, and made to go outside, where he’d probably sulk on the roof until dinner. 

Suddenly, the roof had never felt so far away. 

Her fingers were latched on to the bottom of his shirt before she had even consciously decided to reach out to him. “Kyo.”

He stopped in his tracks, looking down at her hand before back up at her expectantly. “What?”

“Um.” What was she even doing? She stared down at the ground, feeling completely awkward at having acted without a reason, and racked her brain for something to say. “I uh…”

“Hey,” Kyo said gently when she didn’t continue. “Thanks, Tohru. For...you know.”

As she looked back up at him, she found that his face was full of the same gentleness she heard in his voice, and the fondness she felt for him was reflected back to her in his eyes. It caused a familiar warm feeling to spread through her chest and gave her the strength to let go of his shirt. 

She grinned. “I’ll call you when dinner’s ready.”

“‘Kay,” he replied, lingering for a second before turning away and hopping down from the porch into the damp grass. 

She watched him for a moment as he stood in place, sunlight shining down on him. His head lolled to the side as he stretched his arms up and leaned first to one side, then the other. He then placed his hands on his hips and leaned his head back a little as he rocked back and forth on his feet. She couldn’t help but smile at the sight, finding genuine joy in watching him soak in the sun.

Rain had never troubled Tohru all that much.

But the sunshine was honestly so much better. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
